The Door of No Return
by Kwame Alexanderon September 27, 2022
Genres: Middle Grade, Historical, Poetry
Pages: 432
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Dreams are today’s answers for tomorrow’s questions.
11-year-old Kofi Offin dreams of water. Its mysterious, immersive quality. The rich, earthy scent of the current. The clearness, its urgent whisper that beckons with promises and secrets…
Kofi has heard the call on the banks of Upper Kwanta, in the village where he lives. He loves these things above all else: his family, the fireside tales of his father’s father, a girl named Ama, and, of course, swimming. Some say he moves like a minnow, not just an ordinary boy so he’s hoping to finally prove himself in front of Ama and his friends in a swimming contest against his older, stronger cousin.
But before this can take place, a festival comes to the villages of Upper and Lower Kwanta and Kofi’s brother is chosen to represent Upper Kwanta in the wrestling contest. Encircled by cheering spectators and sounding drums, the two wrestlers from different villages kneel, ready to fight.
You are only fine, until you are not.
The match is over before it has barely begun, when the unthinkable–a sudden death–occurs…
The river does not care how grown you are.
As his world turns upside down, Kofi soon ends up in a fight for his life. What happens next will send him on a harrowing journey across land and sea, and away from everything he loves.
Content Tags:
Perfect for readers who want:
- Novels in verse (particularly reluctant/struggling readers)
- Historical fiction set in other countries
- African culture, beliefs, and Twi language
- Diverse stories about colonization
- Beautiful writing with poignant lines
- Relatable characters just struggling to survive
Many thanks to Little, Brown Books for Young Readers and TBR & Beyond Tours for an eARC in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
I have heard endless good things about Kwame Alexander’s work, though I’d never read any of it before. I confess that I tend to associate his name with middle grade sports books, which is a genre I’ve never been able to get into. So when I saw that he had a new historical book in verse coming out, given how popular of an author he is, I knew I had to give it a try!
The Door of No Return is a beautiful, heart-wrenching examination of African culture, colonization, growing up, and all the things that bind us and tear us apart.
While the plot is a little meandering and more slice of life than I wanted it to be, there’s no doubt that Alexander is a gifted writer that can strike at the heart of his readers. There were moments I was bored with what was happening, sure, but I was always invested in the characters, in their life and dreams, and there were plenty of scenes that broke my heart or made me rage at the injustice. Especially keeping in mind that Kofi Offin is only 11 years old! This is a great book for young readers to gain a totally different perspective of a different culture and the ways colonization impacted societies.
Despite living in historical Africa, under very unfamiliar conditions, there are a lot of things readers will recognize and relate to in Kofi Offin’s story.
He goes to school, for one, even though he doesn’t always like it (though he sometimes does). Often, he learns about things he couldn’t care less about, and he doesn’t always understand why he has to learn about these things. Sound familiar?
Offin also struggles with bullying from his older cousin, has a crush on a girl he’s grown up with, and likes to go mess around and get in trouble with his friends. His parents sometimes frustrate him, especially when they keep secrets, and he doesn’t always understand what his grandfather means when he tries giving advice. He looks up to his older brother and sometimes squabbles with his siblings. In other words, he’s an 11-year-old.
Alexander does a magnificent job of representing the culture, beliefs, and situations that make Kofi Offin unique while, at the same time, highlighting all the ways we’re all similar, too.
we march inside
to begin another foreign history lesson
on the Queen’s coronation
in 1838
at some place
called Westminster Abbey
and all I can wonder is
why we do not spend
as much time
learning the history
of our own kingdom.
The real crux of this story doesn’t actually begin until about halfway through, which can make the beginning feel a bit like a drag. When things go wrong, though, they really go wrong.
Bit of a snowball effect, really. If you find the beginning a bit slow and meandering, like I did, with too many slice-of-life scenes and not enough actually happening . . . wait for it! The last half of the book is jammed with action. Basically, it doesn’t take any time at all for life to derail, right? In the blink of an eye.
What makes the book perhaps the most eye-opening is that all these things are happening to an 11-year-old, which probably means less to middle grade readers (who will be the same age) than it does to me, the parent of an 11-year-old.
There are bits of the story that felt incomplete or unfinished, but part of the point is that Offin himself gets no real closure, so how could the reader? The ending is a bit open, too, and leaves the reader to draw their own conclusions about what will become of him, which may be frustrating for some readers, but I think it works well for this age category. Middle grade is characterized by happy endings, but that would be completely unrealistic for a book such as this and would ruin the story. So while the ending isn’t actually happy, it’s hopeful, which I think is the perfect tone to set considering the content.
he is not scared
because the giant
has two feet
like we do,
wraps a cloth
around his waist
each day
the same as us,
and eats just like
everyone else.
Yes, but the difference is, his cloth is mammoth
and he eats PEOPLE like they are stalks of corn,
I say. Be careful, brother.
The Door of No Return is a novel in verse, written in a way that’s accessible even to struggling readers, but with lines that are so poignant they’ll steal your breath away.
Make no mistake: Alexander can write. Man, his writing is gorgeous! There are things that sometimes frustrate me about books in verse, but in this case, the format really highlights the beauty of Alexander’s words. Which, of course, are also juxtaposed to the occasional darkness of the story itself.
I especially appreciated the way Alexander combines Twi with English, especially in the way that English is the “other” that Offin and his peers are forced to learn. It really sets a different expectation and gives the readers a new perspective. Offin talks about how weird the foreign words feel in his mouth, which I imagine many readers will feel about the Twi, and it’s a really interesting sort of realization that forces empathy in a way I think many readers won’t have thought about before.
Despite the sometimes heavy content of the story, Alexander’s writing itself is an absolute delight to read, and I can see why he’s such a popular author!
The Door of No Return isn’t necessarily for the faint of heart, as it handles some very heavy topics, including character death, abuse, torture, implied rape (offscreen, not named), murder, slavery, and implied suicide (offscreen, not named). But it’s a story that needs to be told.
There’s an incredibly poignant line in this story where Offin is asking his parents questions, as so many kids do, about why their life is the way it is, like why the river is dangerous at night. Why they have all these precautions. And like parents do, his father doesn’t want to answer, because he’s still young, and he wants to spare his son the realities of the world. Then Offin utters a line that is gut-wrenching, especially as a parent myself: “You cannot protect me forever.” Because that’s what we all want to do for our kids, right? Preserve their innocence and protect them for as long as physically possible.
I have no doubt that this book will end up on banned books lists, especially in this current climate. I have no doubt that some parents will not want their children to read this book, because it has a lot of hard truths. But like Offin’s parents realize, covering up truths does nothing to change the fact that they exist. While some of the content of this book is heavy, I don’t think it’s above the comprehension of a middle grader, nor do I think they need to be protected from it. I say this as the parent to a naïve 11-year-old that I would gladly hand this book to.
Not only does Alexander shed light on a culture that is often underrepresented and overlooked, but on topics that are incredibly important.
due time. Be patient, my father says to me.
And what if it is too late by then?
He is right, Addoh. A history unknown will replay
itself, Nana Mosi says to his son, my father,
giving up on his nap. We must tell the boy what
he needs to know, Kofi.
You cannot protect me forever, I say to both of them.
About Kwame Alexander
Kwame Alexander is a poet, educator, publisher, and New York Times Bestselling author of 36 books, including SWING, BECOMING MUHAMMAD ALI, co-authored with James Patterson, REBOUND, which was shortlisted for prestigious UK Carnegie Medal, The Caldecott Medal and Newbery Honor-winning picture book, THE UNDEFEATED, illustrated by Kadir Nelson, and his NEWBERY medal-winning middle grade novel, THE CROSSOVER. A regular contributor to NPR’s Morning Edition, Kwame is the recipient of numerous awards, including The Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, The Coretta Scott King Author Honor, Three NAACP Image Award Nominations, and the 2017 Inaugural Pat Conroy Legacy Award. In 2018, he opened the Barbara E. Alexander Memorial Library and Health Clinic in Ghana, as a part of LEAP for Ghana, an international literacy program he co-founded. He is the writer and executive producer of THE CROSSOVER TV series on Disney+. The fall of 2022 will see the release of book one of a new trilogy, THE DOOR OF NO RETURN.
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Another eARC I need to read ASAP!
L.A. Young recently posted…Reading Check-In: October 1, 2022
Terrific review, Sammie. This sounds good, and I’m glad you enjoyed it. I like that it highlights a different culture so kids can learn about it.
Wendy recently posted…Stacking the Shelves #59!
Fantastic review, Sammie! This sounds like a tough read but one that’s well worth it. I tend to struggle a bit with connecting to stories written in prose but after your review, my interest has been piqued enough to want to give this one a try; especially because I’ve also been meaning to try Kwame Alexander’s books.
Dini @ dinipandareads recently posted…Monthly Wrap Up: September 2022
He’s really popular, especially for his sports books, but this was a nice change from that. I hope you give it a chance. It’s something different, at the very least, and it’s always nice to try something different now and then. 😉